‘Look who’s viewed your profile!’ ‘See who your top friends!’ Blah blah blah. Suffice it to say, most of us are tired of all of this spam and junk clicking going on over on Facebook. It’s not our fault right? We’re not the ones getting caught by spam tactics and spreading it across our entire network of colleagues, friends and family. But, just maybe, we are at fault here… (more…)
I’ve always been a giddy child on Christmas Eve. Sitting there, staring at all the gifts, waiting ’til my mom said it’s ok to open just one (although, most of us can vouch for taking a peek at more than one). Well, the time has come to unveil a gift for you all - my blog’s redesign! As that kid waiting by the Christmas tree, I’m super ecstatic and proud to be opening this gift – albeit slightly premature as there are still small tidbits that need to be fixed yet.
As I sit here, watching the opening night of the 2009 NBA season (WOO!), I couldn’t help but get the thinking. Well, it started before tonight’s game with the Cleveland Cavs & Boston Celtics. The NBA held the championship ring ceremony tonight for the Boston Celtics. For those who don’t watch much basketball, the Celtics won the 2008 Championship and the ceremonies are always held during the following year’s opening night. Anywho, I watched the 10 or so minute ceremony with awe and emotion running through me. I’m definitely no Boston fan as I rooted against them and for the L.A. Lakers during the Finals, but I had these feelings in me as I watched the Celtics players receive their championship rings with pure joy on their faces. Specifically though, Paul Pierce, who showed the greatest emotion as he let tears of joy stream down his cheeks as they announced his name, handed him the championship trophy and lastly, received his ring.
I definitely got caught up in the moment and felt his emotions, those that only champions feel when accomplishing the goals they’ve set out for themselves. The Celtics set their goals before the season started and put their heart and soul into reaching it and did so as they became champions.
The goal of becoming a champion is no different in business than it is with sports. Regardless of what industry we’re in and what our job entails, we all (most?) strive to be a champion in one way or another. Whether it’s the small goals we set for ourselves or that one big illustrious accomplishment that we spend our heart and soul into (eg. Celtics). Whatever it may be, becoming a champion takes heart and dedication whether it be finally getting your MBA or nailing that first big client of yours.
I ask you, what makes you want to become a champion? What lights that fire inside of you and gets you going day in and day out? What makes you want to feel the emotion that Paul Pierce felt tonight receiving his ring? I want to hear from you.
The first part of this short series related to one of the takeaways I had from the MarketingProfs Digital Mixer, people and the deep connections I made with many folks at the conference last week. The second takeaway that I’ll be touching on is passion.
Gary Vaynerchuk is as passionate as they come and if anyone is going to give you a kick in the butt about passion, he’s the man to do it. I’ve always watched his videos on GaryVaynerchuk.com & even on WineLibrary.tv (and I barely drink wine) and am able to take his energy from the videos and into my professional and even personal life. Seeing (and gratefully getting to speak & hang out with) him in person definitely multiplied the force of his words as I’m sure majority of the people at the keynote felt. Summing it up, he makes you want to get out and do 1,000 things. Powerful, to say the least.
A couple weeks ago, I wrote on how to pre-tackle conferences and specifically related it to the MarketingProfs Digital Mixer that took place this past week. All I can say is – WOW. The event, people and venue were simply amazing. I expected a great event in Scottsdale as MarketingProfs had a stellar line up of speakers, as well as two big keynotes by Arianna Huffington and Gary Vaynerchuk, who undoubtedly ‘brought it.’ If you’ve ever watched one of his videos, you’ll notice his passion right off the bat for what he does and how much he truly believes in his community, which leads into the biggest takeaways for me from this event; people and passion. I’ll break this up into two parts so I can better explain both.
Communities coming together to unite for/against a cause has always been prevalent in society. We’ve seen it for the O.J. Simpson case, the Elián González custody battle and the Terri Schiavo case. Those are pretty mainstream examples, but the common theme is people banding together for what they feel strongly for. The emotional connections to these cases were apparent, thus creating strong community voices for each. Tying that into the new media tools that we have now to communicate and get messages across, the scope of these communities have the possibility to multiple tenfold.
Just this afternoon, I, among thousands of others, have witnessed a similar community form before our eyes. The community is taking shape on Twitter right as we speak and is reaching out to thousands of folks across the network about a young girl, McKenzie Church (@genochurch‘s daughter), who has been reported missing from her home this past weekend. The report made headway on Twitter as Rob Williams (@orangejack) tweeted an Amber Alert with a post he made on his blog. Before he and anyone else knew it, it’s been retweeted hundreds of times and is prevalant through a Twitter search and the number of results that you’ll see pouring in.
The other week, Chris Brogan had a couple of insightful (when are they not) and timely posts regarding conference etiquette, how to get the most out of them and how to overcome your shyness. For most that know me IRL, I’m a pretty outgoing, sometimes crazy/random, person. I like interacting with folks and being a part of the conversation. Translate that into a conference setting and you have the same, but also come with new challenges.
Later this month (Oct 22-23), I’ll be attending the MarketingProfs Digital Marketing Mixer in Scottsdale. I’m SUPER excited to go as there’s a ton of great speakers and tracks set up that’ll greatly benefit me and my knowledge in the social media space. The part that I’m really pumped about is meeting so many great folks I’ve connected with this past year through Twitter and Plurk.
Chris pointed out some great tips on how to handle yourself at a conference but you may be asking yourself, “What can I do before then?” About a week ago I asked my Plurk friends what their ‘best practices’ are when attending conferences. I got some great ideas through our discussion and came up with a list of things to do before heading out:
To be honest, I’ve never really been much of a political person but I’ve always been for voting and making your voice count. In what seems like the biggest election that most can remember, celebrities are making their voice count through campaign songs, commercials and videos. They’re utilizing their community of fans and followers to help promote the election (regardless of which party they may be for).
Earlier this week, I came across a great video called 5 Friends. It’s a celebrity filled video created to urge people to vote. They take a funny spin on it that you’ll just have to watch and see but the video is entertaining and thought provoking. The title of the video relates to their lasting message: Tell 5 Friends. That’s it. Just tell 5 of your friends about the video, about voting. Great ‘viral’ spin they put on the video, which has already garnered close to 1 million views since Oct 1st (includes a censored and uncensored version – big boy words;)). Imagine if everyone who watches it sends it to 5 friends. The buzz about the video would skyrocket. So, take a look at the video and be sure to send it to your 5 friends!
I’ve tagged 5 of my friends (I would’ve added more but I’ll stick to the gameplan) so they can have a watch of the video as well:
About two months ago, a Twitter bud linked an article from EcoGeek that talked about a big issue they had with Intel and how their logo was stolen. Apparently, Intel PR released some material about one of their products that utilized a cool eco-style power button. Well, this nifty image was the EXACT image of EcoGeek.com’s logo. I guess big time corporations aren’t able to cut into their billion dollar budgets for a little design work.
Fast forward to almost a week later where Intel casually/barely/whateveryouwannacallit apologized to EcoGeek for taking their logo and were ‘sorry if you were upset’. No real apology, no compensation, not even a call. Intel, their PR team, and whoever else that had their hands around this obviously didn’t care much for the little guy that they stole from and basically brushed ‘em aside and went on about their business. Fail. They handled this terribly from a communication standpoint and missed an opportunity to be transparent and fix this sticky situation. If they had shown more assertiveness in reaching out to Hank Green (EcoGeek’s founder) and amending their wrong doing, Intel could have helped their PR case and shown Hank and his readers that they actually give a damn and are truly sorry. Giving him a tour of their headquarters, small compensation, or even a call could have been enough to rebuild the trust with Hank and the EcoGeek community.
Ok, you’re probably wondering why I’m talking about a story that’s two months old. Well, my wheels started spinning this morning as I was doing my usual reading/skimming of TechCrunch posts. I came across an article about Intel and a trademark fight; oh, this had got to be good. For some strange reason, Intel thinks Intellife Travel, a small Chinese travel agency, is infringing on their name. I, along with many others who have commented, don’t see a correlation between the two and would probably have never heard of Intellife Travel if it weren’t for Intel (free PR is better than no PR?).
I won’t get into the legal ramifications of this case but the issue is Intel’s casual demeanor when dealing with small-time businesses and pushing their big dollar name around; not to mention the utter hypocrisy of these two issues. They blatantly jacked someones logo and used it for their own good and then had the nerve to claim Intellife Travel is infringing on their rights. Intel had the chance to address and even build upon their community by rectifying their mistake with EcoGeek, but they chose otherwise and are now after a small business in what seems like such a frivolous lawsuit.
What would you do in either one of these cases (Intel or not)? Is there anything small businesses can do when trying to combat high-powered corporations and their lawyers?
Late last month, Mitch Joel of Twist Image, a marketing agency north of the border, posted a fun and educational social media writing project. The project is simple and asks the community this question:
What are your best practices for Social Media Marketing?
I thought about the question for a bit, as there were several that crossed my mind but then it became evident to me what my best practice is:
Conversation
A best practice describes the building blocks of the strategy/industry at hand, something that brings it to life. The backbone of social media, in my opinion, revolves around the conversation. Taking part in the conversation is one of the biggest things you can do to help evolve your social media presence. Opening the lines of communication within your network shows your willingness to be transparent and to learn & build from that network. So how can you effectively be part of the social media conversation? Here are a few thoughts:
Read and Comment - visit industry blogs that interest you and comment (thought provoking not just a ‘great post’ comment). Stay active and on top of what’s going on in the industry.
Listen - Opening your ears to what’s being said is just as important as talking. What are the hot topics, the hot people; educate yourself and provide value when you do jump in.
Write - Encompassing what you learned – start writing! Bust out some posts and engage your readers. Ask them questions, ask for feedback, grab their interest and hold on to it for dear life (ok, maybe not that dramatic but you get the point).
Be Yourself – Show the real you, in the posts to your readers, in your tweets, to anyone (which is everyone) that can hear you on the interwebs. Transparency gets picked up easily in social media and is appreciated.
We can probably expand this topic even further but will stick to the basics for now and keep it concise for Mitch’s project. Feel free to add your thoughts about conversation and what YOUR best practice is.
At about 11:41am PST today (an hour ago), a 5.4 earthquake hit east of Los Angeles. Don’t be fooled by the link, I didn’t hear about it from CNN. The ‘news’ mediums that broke the story first were Twitter and Ustream.tv. I initially heard about it on Alejandro Reyes’ live Ustream channel as viewers in the area commented as it was happening.
I went over to Summize…err, Twitter Search, to hear more news and see how everyone was doing out there. Within a half hour of when the news first broke, there were already over 4,000 tweets about the event (and Twitter didn’t go down!). Luckily, no one had reported any injuries or structural damage; just a few things knocked over.
The other week, 
About two months ago, a Twitter bud linked an article from 
